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Chapter Seven

The Journey BeginsOver time, Shalimar would learn how to communicate with the spirit voices of the tree people, the rock people, and the numerous types of fairies, gnomes, elves, and other invisible beings. These spirit beings were well aware of the child’s destiny. They welcomed the opportunity to teach Shalimar, knowing that she would one day share their wisdom with humanity and, at long last, reawaken those who had forgotten that these beings existed.

Shalimar could already speak the language of animals because her doves had been teaching her how to communicate with them since she was born. Thus, countless species of animals began taking turns teaching her their own unique ability, called their “totem gift,” so she could learn how to integrate each one with her own.

Shalimar enjoyed playing with, and learning from, her many insect friends, especially the dragonflies and butterflies that always flitted around her. Sometimes, one would land right on the tip of her nose, which made her family laugh to watch her big eyes crossing to look at it.

Dragonfly Spirit taught her to always have the confidence to show her true colors. Butterfly Spirit taught her the importance of remaining within a cocoon until strong enough to break through and fly free. This would prove to be an important lesson for her one day.

Shalimar felt a particular kinship with the bird family. Many kinds of birds, such as hawks, owls, vultures, ravens, hummingbirds, and of course,

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doves, became permanent totem guides for her. She discovered that the “Feathered Ones” were viewed differently from other animals, in that they

could fly between the planes of Heaven and Earth. They were, therefore, considered the messenger guides of the “world.”

On an even greater scale, dolphins and whales were considered the messenger guides of the “universe.” These exceptional marine creatures originally came from

outer-worldly places like the Star Ones. Whales were respected in the animal kingdom for their advanced intelligence and telepathy skills. They came to visit Shalimar frequently. They showed the young princess incredible mental visions of planets that existed far beyond her own, which fascinated her greatly.

She found the dolphins to be gentle and intelligent like the whales, but considerably less serious! They brought joy and playfulness whenever they came to visit and swim with her. If Shalimar could have chosen to live as any animal, it would have been a dolphin because they were so fun and happy to be alive. Their faces looked to her as if they were always smiling, and she couldn’t help smiling back. Just thinking of them made her feel happy and carefree.

As Shalimar developed a greater understanding of the different realms that existed around her, Zandar began assuming a stronger role in advancing her abilities to much higher levels. His skill set provided the perfect complement to Tilly’s. Whereas Tilly taught Shalimar how to believe and see, Zandar taught her how to focus and be.

Now that Shalimar could see and communicate between the realms, Zandar could teach her how to physically move between the realms—from one dimension into another—and back again. But first, she needed to understand the natural laws of energy that allowed for such an act of magic. The Merpeople called this ability to shift between dimensions—“Star Magic”—because it had been brought by the Star Ones. The first demonstration of Star Magic that Shalimar would be shown was known as the Sacred Secret of the Pearl. It involved manifesting a pearl, out of thin air, into one’s hand. This level of energetic mastery required the being’s energy level to vibrate high enough to retrieve the pearl in its thought form from the spirit realm and bring it back into the lower vibrating human realm in its physical form.

It was a shocking feat to witness for anyone who had not studied the science behind the miracle, or rather, the Wisdom behind the Magic. The ancients of Gaspar were the only humans known to have mastered this advanced magic. Regrettably,

since the period of the Dark Days, the magical aspects of the ancestral knowledge were forgotten. Although many of the lost secrets remained

in the tribal myths and lore of their people, no one considered the stories as actual truth anymore.

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The enormous task of returning these secrets to the people of Gaspar sat squarely upon the small, but mighty, shoulders of this six-year-old child. It was up to young Shalimar to help a continent of people remember who they were, what they knew, and what they could do.

Tilly, Zandar, and the doves were convinced that Shalimar could achieve this purpose. They knew that her soul had been carefully chosen to return the secrets of the universe back to the human race. But they also knew that before she could successfully make a pearl appear in her hand, she would first have to conceive it and believe it.

Mastering the faith required for this feat of mind over matter would be the most difficult part. But, if she could, then any possibility would become instantly unlimited and available to everyone. Through her example—the invisible would become visible; the unbelievable would be believable; and the impossible would be proven possible.

But first, she had to be taught the “science of miracles,” and that would be no simple matter!

It was now up to Zandar to impart his advanced knowledge to the human child. He knew that Shalimar was unaware of her angelic origin; and he understood that heaven’s divine plan for her would eventually serve the highest good for humanity. But he loved her very much and, in his fatherly heart, he questioned its highest good for Shalimar. For a child to carry such knowledge was an unfathomably large responsibility. Nevertheless, her teachers had to accept that she was born to be destiny’s child and not their own. Zandar reconciled the part he played, in teaching her the Sacred Secret of the Pearl, by holding faith in her angelic soul to one day remember who she was and why she had agreed to come here.

e

Zandar relaxed on the warm beach at the edge of the sloshing waves with Tilly close by on her rustic wooden bench, where she regularly sat to commune with the sea and its many wondrous inhabitants. Zandar found endless delight in his eccentric old friend. He especially looked forward to seeing which flamboyant sun hat she would be wearing. Tilly’s fanciful hats served as an endearing reminder of the youthful spirit living within the venerable elder.

Shalimar sat a good distance away from Tilly and Zandar, applying the final touches to her elaborate sandcastle. After finishing, she paused to enjoy the “uncommonly common” scene of her beloved mentors chatting. It seemed they were always chuckling and nodding in utmost agreement with each other about whatever they were discussing. The familiar image of the oddly matched sages melted Shalimar’s heart

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with happiness. Watching them together made her feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be part of this beautiful relationship that no one else could see… and that she could never explain… and that no one could ever imagine… and yet, there they were, in all their unbelievable splendor, like any other “un-ordinary” day in her life.

Zandar caught her musing eye and called to her, “Shalimar, come here, my little one.”As she ran up, he patted the sand next to him and said, “Come and sit, Princess. We

have much to discuss today.” She plopped down in the fringe of the warm waves. She was hoping to hear his plan to

take her on a thrilling ride to meet a new kind of creature or visit the Merpeople’s island and listen to fantastical stories. Everything related to the World of Mer was beyond fascination, with absolutely no exceptions.

Instead of offering her exciting ideas, Zandar sat rather thoughtfully in the tumbling waves, while his wet fishtail glistened in the sun like a sparkling rainbow.

Aunt Tilly knew that his task of explaining the Sacred Secret of the Pearl to a little child would be a tremendous challenge, even for the amazing Zandar. She was most

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curious as to the words he would choose to relay such a thing in a way that a young human could understand.

Shalimar quickly noticed that Zandar had brought along his magnificent shell horn and made no effort to contain her enthusiasm about seeing it up close. She wondered if she could manage to hold it up and make a sound with it. She had never actually heard it before, but she knew he used it to send messages under the water that his whole clan could hear at once.

Zandar picked up on her fascination with the shell horn. He decided to skip the introduction he had planned and jump straight to teaching the science of magic. He was happy to see her interest in the horn, because he had brought it for the very purpose of demonstration.

Shalimar looked up from the shell and asked, “May I try to blow the horn, please? May I please?”

“Certainly, you may,” he replied. “But I think you’ll find a surprise when you do.”Shalimar picked up the weighty object as Zandar pointed to the “blowing” end.

She blew with all her might—but instead of hearing a loud horn sound, she heard a jingle-jangle sound coming from underneath Tilly’s bench!

The two master teachers chuckled as Tilly reached under the bench and pulled out a very old tambourine that her sister, Amanda, had given her when they were children. Shalimar’s eyes grew large.

With a cheeky smile and a little shake of its jingles, Tilly handed the tambourine to Zandar so he could explain what happened.

“A little strange, was that not? To expect a horn and hear a jingle?” he said, with understanding nods.

Shalimar sat dumbfounded. Seeing the perplexed look on the child’s face, the elders resisted a tempting chortle

“Don’t worry, you blew the horn just fine,” Zandar said as he began his lesson. “And a sound did indeed come from it. But among us, only the tambourine and I could hear it. The vibration of the horn’s sound is not in the range that human ears can hear. But it is in the range that Merpeople and some sea mammals can hear, such as our dolphin and whale cousins.”

Shalimar still looked befuddled, so she attempted to make her own sense of it.She asked, “Do you mean that the horn sound is invisible to my ears, in the same

way that you used to be invisible to my eyes? And so, if I believe the sound is there, then I can hear it?”

Tilly and Zandar turned to each other, both were clearly stumped by the child’s astute logic—and so soon into their session! In all their wisdom,

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neither one had ever had that particular thought before. It took them a moment to grasp the simplicity of her logic, but the logic was there, nonetheless.

Tilly snickered a little and said to her fellow tutor, “Oh my, I believe I’m feeling humbled—and you, dear Sir?”

“Yes, indeed so! Perhaps, we should elevate this lesson to her level!” he bantered.“What do you mean by that?” Shalimar interjected.

“Well child, I suppose you are correct—by way of a shortcut—you are interestingly correct. But allow me, if you will, to take us on a slightly different path to the same destination.

“Sound is a vibration. You cannot see a vibration, but you can see, hear, and feel its effect. Think about how the sound of a foghorn from a nearby fishing boat feels when it vibrates through your chest. Have you ever felt that sound?”

“Yes, Sir,” she answered. Zandar placed the tambourine between them on the sand and said, “I’m going to

blow the horn again. You will see the tambourine vibrate and hear it jingle.”Shalimar watched in amazement as the tambourine shook and jingled from the

“invisible” sound, and she wanted to understand why.Zandar leaned in close like he had a secret to tell and said, “The sound is there, but

your ears cannot hear it. Correct?”“Yes!” answered both Tilly and Shalimar.Tilly had become so enthralled by his story she forgot that she already knew the

answers. Zandar cocked his head and wrinkled a curious brow at her, which made her giggle like a child as she waved him back to his work at hand.

“Alright then. Now, my young apprentice, I would like you to place a few drops of water on the tambourine before I blow the horn again. This time, watch the droplets bounce on the surface from the vibration of the sound I am sending. Try to keep your eyes on them, because they will bounce faster and faster until they completely disappear. But then as I lower the force of the sound, they will bounce slower and slower until they reappear.”

Just as he said, Shalimar saw the beads of water disappear and reappear right before her eyes. She blurted, “How did you do that?! That’s MAGIC!”

Tilly squeezed Shalimar’s hand with a sparkle of pride in her eyes and chimed, “Yes, sweetheart, that is magic, indeed!”

Shalimar’s thoughts and questions started flying in every direction. “Zandar, is that why I couldn’t see you before? Was it because you were bouncing fast like the droplets?

And does it mean that by believing I could see you—I was bouncing fast, too? And… and,” she chattered on, “… does that mean that, since I see you all

the time now, that I’m always bouncing as fast as you?”

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Shalimar’s thoughts and words were racing so fast, she ran out of air. Then suddenly quiet, her eyes grew big and round. She gulped hard and croaked, “Does… does that mean I’mmm… INVISIBLE?! Oh, no! What will Mother and Father think if they can’t see me anymore?”

In a panic, Shalimar patted herself all over and patted Tilly, too, to check if they were still there. Aunt Tilly held the flustered child’s hands to calm her and said, “No, Shally dear, it does not mean that at all. You’re fine, and we are both still here. This is only science, like we study in your books. Science can explain all the magical wonders of the world. This is why Wisdom and Magic are like two sides of one coin. When you truly understand that, my angel, you will be able to do anything. Simply anything!”

Zandar smiled in agreement with Tilly and said, “You did well with today’s lesson. Tomorrow, I will return to teach you the Sacred Secret of the Pearl and make a pearl appear in my hand. Would you like to learn how to do that?”

Shalimar’s hands flew to her face, too excited to speak. Behind her hands, her head bobbed enthusiastically while her bare feet pounded the sand in her happy dance.

“I will take this to mean—‘Yes’!” Zandar chuckled.Then, in a much more sober tone, he added, “Tomorrow will be ‘a day to remember,’

because you will begin to remember how to retrieve the gifts that were lost to your people a very long time ago.

“Tomorrow… you will see the breaking light of a new dawn. It will be the first step of a lengthy journey that will one day lead your people back to where they once began.”

Zandar turned and dove into the shallow waves with his fins skimming the surface until he disappeared into deeper water. Seconds later, he leaped high into the air in magnificent full form and shouted from the distance, “Tomorrow!” Then he plunged back into the enchanted sea from which he came.

Shalimar hugged her dear aunt and whispered to her, “I truly am the luckiest girl in the world!”

It was a big day for Shalimar. And the next day would prove even bigger, not only for her, but for her mentors as well. While they felt confident that she would eventually be able to perform the miracle herself, they also felt a pang of reluctance. They could foresee the sacrifice involved, once she became known as the first person to perform vibrational magic, something that would seem impossible to everyone else. They knew this experience would play a profound role in her future, but they did not know how.

Aunt Tilly kissed Shalimar’s soft cheek and whispered back to her, “Yes! You are, Shalimar! You are the luckiest girl in the world! And no matter what may come

in your life, you must promise me to always remember that.”

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